MASTERBUILDERS

ABOUT US

Back left: My name is Kaius and I am 9 years old. I like to play with Lego and I like to read. I enjoy being with my family. A skill I have that is good for my team is my lego building ability. This is my third year working on an FLL Jr team and my favourite part of being on a team this year is working as a team.

Back right: My name is Tyler. I am 9 years old. I like to play Prodigy, do gymnastics, create art, and build with Lego. Some skills or qualities that I bring to my team are my friendship and my artistic abilities. This is my first year being on an FLL Jr team. My favourite part has been building with Lego.

Front left: My name is Isaac and I am 9 years old. I like to build all kinds of things from Lego, play soccer, and test my skills in video games. Something that I bring to my team is my sense of humour. This is my third year of FLL Jr and my favourite part of being on this team is that I can build with my friends.

Front right: My name is Adalyn. I am 10 years old. I like to draw, do magic tricks, and I speak a little Spanish. Some skills or qualities that I bring to my team are that I like building, I have ideas, and I’m helpful with Lego. This is my second year of being on an FLL Jr team and my favourite part of being on this team is that I can learn with others.

OUR SEARCH FOR INFORMATION: LONDON

This FLL Jr season, we learned about water. The first thing we explored was the water cycle. Then we read books and visited websites to learn that humans use a lot of water. Next, we visited the Primary Water Supply System in Elgin. There, we learned how they clean water from Lake Erie so that it is safe for humans to use. We also learned how they transport it to communities.

After that, we visited the Adelaide Wastewater Treatment Facility. It is one of the places in the city that takes everything that goes down the drains. They take out solids, oils, and harmful chemicals so that the water can be released safely into the Thames River. We learned that a lot of people in London put things down the drains that they shouldn’t. Some examples are pharmaceuticals, grease, food, sanitary items, and baby wipes.

For our project, we decided to focus on the toilet. We learned about how a toilet functions and that the only things that should ever go down the toilet drain are urine, feces, and toilet paper. However, some people use the toilet like a garbage can. They put all kinds of things down the drain like diapers, baby wipes, bandages, kitty litter, tampons, newspaper, and even toothbrushes! These items can clog your toilet and cause your drains to back up. If it gets down the drain, it can cause a clog somewhere else in the pipes in your neighbourhood. If it makes it to the Wastewater Treatment Facility, it makes a lot more work for the city to clean up.

OUR SEARCH FOR INFORMATION: AROUND THE WORLD

We were curious about how people get access to water and use it all over the world, so we asked families who live and travel all over the world. We learned that rural areas all over the world can have problems getting running water. It’s not just South Africa that has a problem, like we learned in the playpump story. It’s on all the continents where people live. The problem happens when people are far away from water and from each other. It happens when people don’t have money to create a water treatment system or to pay for water if they live in an area with running water (like London).Some examples we learned about are in Mexico, Honduras, Russia, Hawaii, India, Alaska, Argentina, and Ontario.When people don’t have access to running water, they wash their clothes and dishes by hand. They use cloths to wash themselves because there are no baths or showers. They use buckets or holes in ground as toilets. Sometimes they put these bathrooms close to wells and pump and then the drinking water can become contaminated. People get really sick and can die when this happens.Next, we want to explore the idea of a dry latrine and how this can help communities with no access to sanitary systems. We learned about this from Stephanie Moore, a hydrologist in the United States, and think it can really help keep people healthy. Sanitary living conditions are important for all people. ​

OUR MODEL: WHAT IT SHOWS

Our model shows two different scenes: a community that has access to running water and a community that does not.

In the community with running water, you can see the Primary Water Treatment Facility that takes water from the nearby lake and cleans it for human use. In it, there is a public bathroom with toilets, sinks, and drains. The drains lead to pipes in the sewer that take the water to the wastewater treatment facility, where the sewage is treated and then released into the Thames River.

We also have a large-scale model of a toilet. It shows that when you flush a toilet, the waste will go down through the pipes in the building and into the sewer.

In the community without running water, there is a public bathroom with buckets to catch the waste since they do not have plumbing. There is a long line because there are not enough toilets for the community. There are also several small homes where many people live and sleep. There is someone washing their clothes in a big tub since there are no washing machines. There is a lake where everyone gets their water. They also use it to bathe and and drink. People who drink dirty water can get really sick and even die. The bacteria from the bathroom can seep out and make its way to the lake, making people sick.

There is a playpump that draws water from underground. There is a person getting water from it to take back home.

OUR MODEL: WHAT MOVES AND WHY

Toilet:The lid goes up and down. It is a lever.The handle goes up and down. It is a lever.The flush mechanism turns. It is a wheel and axle, gears, and pulley. When you pull the handle, the sensor sends a message to the motor that spins the pulley that turns the screw that turns gears that spin the wheel and axle that flush the toilet. Playpump:The playpump has gears that make the water mechanism eject water.Elevator:The elevator goes up and down. It is a pulley controlled by a motor. It also has sliding doors at each level.Door to the Wastewater Treatment Facility:It opens and closes. It is a lever. On the door, there is a tilt sensor. When the door is tilted open, the sensor sends a message to make a “door opening” sound.Car:The car has wheels and axles that help the car move. Attached to the rear wheel is a pulley that is attached to a motor. When the motor is activated, it turns the pulley that turns the wheel.Other:There are also many small simple machines throughout the project (examples are levers: doors, wheelbarrow, people’s arms and legs; inclined planes: wheelbarrow, slide, roofs; wheel and axle: wheelbarrow; wedge: front of the boat)